How Painful is Jaw Surgery Recovery?
“We’ll have you on a pain medication regimen so that we stay ahead of the pain… And really, the only way you are going to have pain is if you don’t follow our instructions.”
This fear of pain is completely natural and understandable. However, you should be asking about recovery so you can recover correctly and thus minimize any chance of pain. So let’s go through the recovery timeline and learn how to recover safely.
First, there’s the procedure.
You won’t feel any pain during the procedure because you will be asleep. But surgery is still an intense process on your body. When you undergo general anesthesia for surgeries like corrective jaw surgery, your brain is “asleep.” But the nerves in your mouth are still reacting to the surgery. So, we suppress the conscious experience of pain, but your body will still experience discomfort. Which is why we stay ahead of the pain with pain medication.
The first 2-3 days after surgery tend to be the most uncomfortable.
You can expect swelling, soreness, and stiffness in the jaw. We recommend some cold therapy. You can apply a cold pad or an ice pack to the affected areas. This will help reduce discomfort. We also recommend elevating your head, so rest with a small pile of pillows supporting your head. Take it easy, rest, and only consume liquid food or very soft food like yogurt.
To stay ahead of the pain we will prescribe you a pain medication regimen. Of course, these regimens can vary across surgeries and prescribing professionals. But generally, we start with something strong like a narcotic (opioid) drug. While strong, you will only need them for the first 3 to 4 days after surgery.
After the first week, we normally start to taper our medication regimen.
After those first 3 to 4 days, our pain medication regimen switches over to something like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. The swelling will start to decline. We still recommend using a cold pack and elevating your head. Eating and speaking will probably still be difficult so keep up with a liquid or soft food diet. You will most likely feel very tired so rest up.
After about 6 weeks, you can return to light activities.
At this point, the puffiness around your jaw should be significantly diminished. However, subtle puffiness can still persist for a few more months. Talking and eating should feel normal again. And you shouldn’t require any pain medication. However, you should still be careful. If you do feel any sharp or deep pains, that might be a sign of post-surgical complication. Let us know if anything takes a turn for the worst.
After 3 months, you should be nearly fully recovered.
Some patients can still feel residual swelling and persistent numbness, but it fades into “background noise.” These subtle feelings can persist for up to 6 months. While you probably won’t really feel anything beyond an echo of your surgery, you should still listen to your body. Like we said above, if strong feelings persist, it might be a sign of a recovery complication.
But that’s why we have post-surgical follow-ups, to track your healing.
So be sure to follow our instructions and you’ll be sure to heal on track and with minimum discomfort.
